...In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, we meet two different groups of supernatural beings, one being the witches and the other being the apparitions. This goes along to help change how Macbeth acts and influences the decisions that he is forced to make very different than if they had not stepped in during the play. At the beginning we meet Macbeth who is a brave and courageous soldier in battle which they do end up winning. At the end of the battle the three witches are there with a man named Banquo, and during this meeting they discuss the fate of who may hold the title of king if something were to happen to, Duncan, the current king. This starts to stir thoughts on the future of Macbeth and his large chance at being...
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...2. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth meets three witches who inform him with three apparitions: Beware of Macduff, Fear no man born of a woman, and you(Macbeth) will never be defeated until Birnam Wood marches to fight you at Dunsinane Hill. The apparitions sounded unreal and impossible to take place. Therefore, the witches tricked Macbeth into feeling a false sense of confidence and security. Later on, at the beginning of Act5,scene5, Macbeth speaks in a warlike tone and seems to be defiant; “Hang out our banners on the outward walls”, “Our castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn”. He is fully armed, and he confidentially turns his scorn on the advancing army of Macduff. Macbeth’s overconfident scene is interrupted by the news of...
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...ACT V Through Scene 1 of Act 5, the reader gets a “new” Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth was seen as a strong woman (who cast a spell to become a “man). She seemed very fearless and non paranoid while plotting and assisting in the murder of Duncan. Gentlewoman tells the Doctor how Lady Macbeth had been getting up from bed, taking paper, writing on it, reading it, and then going back to bed (all in her sleep). When Gentlewoman declines to reveal what Lady Macbeth was saying, Lady Macbeth enters with a candle (taper). Now, both Gentlewoman and the Doctor witness and observe Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking. Her sleepwalking reveals that her ramshackle conscious is restraining her from staying calm. It also...
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...first speech indicate about his attitude to the witches? Macbeth’s first speech shows that he trusts the witches. 3. Note the conjuration in lines 50-61. What is Macbeth demanding? Macbeth is demanding that the witches obey his orders. 4. Who else does Macbeth demand to see? Macbeth demands to see more about his future. 5. What warning does the first apparition offer? The warning the first apparition offers is to look out for Macduff. 6. What form does the first apparition take? The form of the first apparition is a helmeted head. 7. What do you think...
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...in the play Macbeth demonstrate a different approach. The Three Witches are depicted as old, ugly women who have beards and scaly fingers. Additionally, they have a critical role in telling the main character, Macbeth, the prophecies and predictions. As a result, the Three Witches play a significant importance to the play Macbeth because they are the ones who instill negative thoughts and ideas into Macbeth’s head with their predictions and emphasize the main theme of evil and darkness. The evil witches are important to the play because they are the ones who instill negative thoughts and ideas into Macbeth’s head with their predictions. First of all, the witches’ predictions give him the idea of killing King Duncan. When the witches first encounter Macbeth, they say, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter” (Shakespeare 1:3 50-53). Macbeth is confused when he hears about the prediction and he is astonished when the prediction regarding Cawdor becomes true. After that, he immediately begins to think about his last prediction and imagines about committing murder. He says, “Two truths are told,/ As happy prologues to the swelling act/ Of the imperial theme./[..] My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man that function/ Is smothered in surmise, and nothing is/ But what is not” (Shakespeare 1:3 136-138, 148-151). Macbeth already has...
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...What part does the supernatural play in Macbeth? The word supernatural is defined as ‘Not being able to be explained by the laws of nature’. The majority of us would link the word supernatural to ghosts and paranormal activities, which these days can be proved by using complex technology. However if we look back at Shakespeare’s era in around 1606 the majority of the people there completely believed in the supernatural. Their main belief was that witches existed and had great power to change what ever they wanted. It was believed so much in this time that even King James believed that these supernatural beings existed. Although nowadays it is completely the opposite, most of us believe that these supernatural beings are just mythological. The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare during the time that probably he himself and the rest of the population believed in the supernatural, it includes several supernatural events and the general atmosphere is a sinister one. The very first part of the play Macbeth includes three witches other wise described by Shakespeare as the weird sisters. These three witches plan to meet Macbeth upon a heath in the storm which is surrounding them. The effect of this automatically gives the reader the feeling that the play is a sinister one. The witches communicate to each other by speaking in riddles, such as “Fair is foul and foul is fair”. We learn two things from this first part of speech from the witches, firstly we can see that...
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...play, Macbeth, the three weird sisters, otherwise known as the witches, merely report what is destined to be for Macbeth. I believe that Macbeth would not have taken part in the same actions, if the witches hadn’t given him any predictions. He would not have had any reason to commit murder if he hadn’t known that he may become king. Throughout the play, there several instances where Macbeth approaches the witches to receive future predictions for his life. Some of the predictions may still have come true without Macbeth doing the things he did, but most of them would have been false without the murders. In Act I, Scene III, Banquo and Macbeth meet the three witches for the first time. In this scene, the witches give predictions...
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...Ms. Palleschi World LIterature 14 May, 2012 Shakespeare expresses different sorts of imagery throughout his play written play, “Macbeth.” Macbeth encounters illusions, hallucinations and apparitions throughout the play that symbolize other meaning and have an affect on later events that lead him to his downfall. He had an illusion of a dagger pointing to King Duncans’ room before he murdered him. He had a hallucination about his friend Banquo after he had murdered him. Macbeth was told three apparitions by witches about how he would die which weren’t meant to be true but happened in ways he didn’t fully expect. “Is this a dagger which I see before me/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee/I have thee not, and yet I see thee still/Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but/A dagger of the mind, a false creation/Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?/I see thee yet, in form as palpable/As this which now i draw/Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going/And such an instrument I was to use/Mine eyes are made the fools o’ th’ other senses/Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still/And on thy blade the dudgeon gouts of blood/Which was not so before. There’s no such thing/It is the bloody business which informs/Thus to mine eyes." (2.1.33-48). Macbeth is getting prepared to commit the crime of murdering King Duncan. He gets so nervous and overwhelmed by the situation that he has an illusion of a dagger. He can see it but...
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...blamed on only one. If one goes in, the other one will follow, whether it’s good or bad. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is supported by his wife, Lady Macbeth to kill the king, Duncan and grab the royalty for themselves. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have many similar and different characteristics. This couple ate both egotistical, see things from face-value, and very power-hungry. While they are both very manipulative, Macbeth is easier to manipulate. Lady Macbeth is eventually guilt-ridden, while guilt never affects Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is also fine with only killing Duncan, whereas Macbeth murders everyone who he feels will take his royalty from him. The witches tell Macbeth the first three prophecies; Thane of Glams, Thane of Cawdor, and The future King. He is confused at first, but then called the witches to come back, and tell him more, this is his ego growing. He wanted to know, “to be King stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor”. When news came that the Thane of Cawdor is now Macbeth, fuels the fire, his ego starts to build even more. “Glams and Thane of Cawdor! The greatest is behind,” Macbeth says aside. Once he is king, to be sure he hangs on to his power, Macbeth visits the witches again for a second time, asks for prophecies. One of the four apparitions was that, “None of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” This apparition also contributes to Macbeth being egotistical, because it...
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...when pressured by situational forces. Macbeth is first introduced as a war hero, and the thane of Glamis, a nobleman who Duncan, the King of Scotland, speaks very highly of. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally disposed to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, it is evident how influences like Lady Macbeth, the witches and fate push Macbeth into committing evil acts. In the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth is told he would be Thane of Cawdor and then eventually become king. After becoming Thane of Cawdor shortly following the execution of the previous Thane, one prophecy lingered in Macbeth’s mind, becoming King of Scotland, which was impossible for as long as Duncan lived. Macbeth has the thought of becoming ruler but the idea of murdering his King was never the plan, “That tears shall drown the wind. / I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / and falls on th’ other” (I. vii. 25-28). However, his wife, Lady Macbeth, makes it known to Macbeth that the only way he would become king is to murder Duncan, and does so by accusing him of being a coward: From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem (I. Vii. 39-43). Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth the perfect plan of getting the guards...
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...In William Shakespeare's Macbeth the witches play an important role throughout the play. Although it may seem that their part is small, without them there would simply be no theme and storyline in this play. The witches provide readers with a theme, foreshadowing, overall mood and also the evolution of Macbeth’s character which are all crucial in the play. The witches believe that, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (I.I.XII), stating that what may seem normal or ordinary on the outside may not be the same on the inside. This quote is repeated throughout Macbeth and presents itself as a major theme in the play. It shows that what seems normal or ordinary on the outside may not be the same on the inside. The prophecies that the witches tell Macbeth...
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...Macbeth: The Tragic Hero By: Daniel Chekole 2012 Macbeth: The Tragic Hero By: Daniel. C "Any art worthy of its name should address 'life', 'man', 'nature', 'death' and 'tragedy'.” (Barnett Newman, BrainQuote) In a tragedy the main character rises to greatness showing characteristics above normality while repeatedly showing proof to the audience about his or her tragic flaw which later on leads to the character’s downfall. Macbeth created tragedy in the lives of his loved ones and peers as well as a monumental tragic fate onto himself during his reversion from being a decent and moral man to someone similar to a devil who had paranoia and couldn’t differentiate between good and evil. Furthermore, Macbeth became detached from the feelings and thoughts of the people around him as he became so engaged in himself as well as the three witches and their prophecies. When Shakespeare wrote this play he slowed down the process of the tragedy so that the audience would acknowledge and experience Macbeth’s success and happiness; slowing signs appeared with foreshadowing techniques leading to the climax of the play as Macbeth headed to his tragic flaw. In the process of the tragedy Macbeth starts as a brave respected warrior, then later is fooled by the witches with prophecies, and sadly becomes lifeless. In the beginning of the play as we first hear of Macbeth from a wounded captain who...
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...The Natural Un-Unnatural William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play about a man whose ambition deems him insane. Through certain acts that Macbeth, the main character, disrupts the balance of nature and the unnatural. The actions that breed from Macbeth’s actions, due to his ambitions, cause unnatural things to occur. Throughout the play, the natural and unnatural balance of nature is thrown off, creating an unnatural atmosphere. Throughout William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, an atmosphere that is unnatural is created through imagery of unnatural birth, animal motifs, and the actions of Macbeth. Throughout Macbeth, images of unnatural births help fuel an unnatural atmosphere. In act four the witches brew up a potion consisting of different parts of living things. One of those things is a “Finger of birth-strangled babe/ Ditch-delivered by a drab” (IV,i,30-31). This contributes to the atmosphere of the play because during the Elizabethan time period, grueling births were not common. The fact that a prostitute gives birth to a baby on the side of the road, foreshadows that the baby will bring evil upon society; ultimately creating an unnatural and eerie atmosphere. Also, the fact that Macduff is “…from his mother’s womb/ Untimely ripped” (V,viii,15-16) plays a role as to how an unnatural atmosphere comes about. Imagery of Macduff’s birth causes a dark and unnatural atmosphere. Macduff is born from a sea section because Shakespeare tries to appeal to the...
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...1. Do you blame Macduff for abandoning his family? Why or why not? I don't blame Macduff, but he certainly blamed himself. I don’t blame his because Macduff only left his family to bring down his country's murderous tyrant. 2. What are the predictions made by the second and third apparitions? Why does Macbeth readily accept these predictions? He accepts them because the second apparition came in the form of a blood child which told him not to fear the power of man, because no child born of a woman would defeat him. He agrees with this, because he believes that he can't be defeated by anyone and this apparition simply helps justify his thoughts. And the third apparition came in the form of a child with a crown holding a tree which told him not to fear those who hate him or conspire against him, because he shall not be defeated until the battle of Birnam Wood on Dunsinane Hill, and he doesn't even believe he would be defeated so the second part didn't even register in his mind....
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...Shakespeare’s Macbeth is regarded as a tragedy. It is considered one not because of Macbeth’s ruthless killings of innocent victims, but because it portrays Macbeth’s transformation from a brave, dutiful soldier, to a backstabbing, greedy villain. It is all thanks to the three witches, who ruin Macbeth with their snippets of lies and truth. The presence of the witches adds a supernatural tone to the tale and is the crucial factor influencing Macbeth’s actions, and therefore, the storyline. The three mysterious beings can be accredited with telling Macbeth their prophecies, making him see Banquo’s ghost, as well as making him see the three apparitions. At the very beginning of the story, Macbeth would never think of wronging his king in any way. He is a loyal general and is perfectly content with his position of Thane of Glamis. Upon meeting the witches for the first time, he hears their three prophecies. The last statement, “All hail Macbeth, thou shalt be king thereafter!”(I, iii,), seems so unrealistic that he almost immediately dismisses it from his memory. However, it is just enough to tip him over the edge. It plants a seed of doubt in his mind, and more and more, Macbeth finds himself thinking about what it means. That little sentence is what ultimately causes Macbeth, along with Lady Macbeth, to corrupt and murder his beloved King Duncan. Macbeth also learns from the witches that Banquo “shall get kings, though [he] be none”(I, iii,). This leads to Macbeth’s...
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